Monthly Archives: July 2008

Day One at Linda’s

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Linda and I have been working on the drawings for her next quilt. It’s coming along nicely! While I was working on the computer, Steve went hiking in Arches National Park. He had a really nice day and took lots of photos. These are just 2 of the 91 images he put on my little digital camera.

 
Tomorrow Linda and I are getting new photos taken — you’ll be seeing an updated version of us in the next book and online. After that we’re going up on Grand Mesa to see some sights. Then it’s back to work.

Quilt Nebraska

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I taught at the annual meeting of the Nebraska State Guild in Chadron, Nebraska, last weekend. (FYI – Chadron is pronounced “Shadron”.) There were classes, exhibits, vendors, and lots of getting together at Quilt Nebraska. Everyone had a good time!


To got to Chadron last Thursday I flew to Denver and then on a smaller plane to Scottsbluff, NE. Gail, a quilter from Scottsbluff, picked me up at the airport and drove me to Chadron. My luggage ended up flying on to Chadron on an even smaller plane (I’m glad I was not on that smaller plane). We drove into, and out of, a spectacular thunderstorm! There was an incredible double rainbow as the sun was going down behind us that I took several photos of. This is the best one. It almost doesn’t look real… everything in the landscape took on a reddish glow. You can’t see it here but we could see the entire rainbow. The prairie may be mostly flat, but it is beautiful.

I’m at Linda’s in Grand Junction now. I’ll post more later.

A book for quilters…

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Emilie Richards sent me a copy of her newest book, Sister’s Choice. It is a lovely story about two sisters (hence the title) and the way their lives, and the lives of those they love, intertwine. There is a quilting theme that runs through the book, as it does through many of our own lives.


I have to admit that I read a lot more murder mysteries than anything else, but I enjoyed this book. Thanks for sharing it with me Emilie!

Something old, something new…

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Most of you have seen our newest block of the month, Aunt Millie’s Garden. I know that many of you are working on your own versions of this lovely quilt.



Linda made the red Aunt Millie quilt that you are most familiar with. However, I’ll be teaching classes based on Aunt Millie so I needed a smaller version of it to travel with. We have new fabric coming out in August so it made sense for me to make my version using some of that new fabric. I chose a white background which sets off the new fabric beautifully. I wanted to share this image with you to give you an idea of what the quilt looks like with something other than a red background.

The new fabric is from P&B. The collection is called Elanor’s Picnic and we’ll have it on our website just as soon as we can. We’ll post close-ups of the fabric then so that you can see the details. We think you’re going to love it!

A library system that quilters can love!

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Isn’t this lovely! I found this photo on a design blog and it led me to the source. Valerie Madill designs information systems. (Valerie gave me permission to post these images and share the links to her site.) This is her idea for a new library organization system. Click here to read more about this very fine idea. 

I love the way the books look! There is a pieced quilt look to them. But beyond how great this is to look at, on close examination you find that there is a amazing amount of information on each of the colorful labels. The system is both intuitive and informative. I am going to have to find the time to organize my books this way! Way to go Valerie! 

Full Spectrum Lights

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Jay posted a comment to one of my recent posts about full spectrum lights. I think it’s easier to answer that question here with a new post. I want to be very clear with you all that I love my full spectrum light and I use it every day. But I am careful with it and here’s why:


A few years ago I was teaching in Baltimore and noticed that one of my students had burned her arm. When I asked her about it she said that, because she had recently gone on medication that made her extremely susceptible to UV rays, exposure to her full spectrum light had caused the burn. I want to emphasize that this is rare. But it got me to thinking.

I had not ever connected the “full spectrum” claim on any particular brand of lamp with UV rays. I used to position my light in such a way that the light shone onto the side of my face and into the side of my eye. My glasses have a UV protective film, but that didn’t do me any good where the light was not going through the lens of my glasses. My initial thought was about cataracts which run in my family. I lowered my light so that it only shines on my handwork. The added benefit to the lower light is that it reduced my eyestrain.

It later occurred to me that, if I had a medical condition that required very limited exposure to UV rays, I would probably talk to my doctor about the safety of using a full spectrum light. I’m not an expert on UV exposure, I am just trying to use some common sense. 

I did do some limited research about Dr. John Ott who gave us full spectrum lights. He’s a very interesting guy! Click the link to read more about him and the technology he started. It seems that the range of light varies from one full spectrum light to another. I’m not sure how you would tell which light has the most UVs.

I want to be very clear: I am not advocating that you give up your full spectrum light. Just be aware of that what it means when the box says full spectrum.